Pink Floyd (page 4)

The Final Cut (The Album)

“It was about how, in the aftermath of the Second World War and the Attlee government and the introduction of the Welfare State, we felt we were moving forward into something resembling some kind of Utopian dream of a liberal country where we would all look after one another, and slowly that dream had become eroded. I guess because maybe people discovered that wasn’t what we wanted after all. In fact, there’s a selfishness in us, and a lack of community spirit that led us, by the ’80s into a doctrine of a pragmatic, radical, Reaganite-Thatcherite economic system. That’s the system of values to which, by and large, we still cling.”Roger Waters (748)

“[The Final Cut is described as “a requiem for the post war dream”. Is the post war dream the same thing as ‘The Gunner’s Dream’ where he hopes that the world can one day become a safe and peaceful and compassionate place for everyone – Ed]? That’s exactly what it is. The post war dream… we experienced the beginning of the Welfare State in 1946. The government introduced all that new legislation. At the point where I wrote The Final Cut, I’d seen all that chiselled away, and I’d seen a return to an almost Dickensian view of society under Margaret Thatcher.”Roger Waters (746)

“[Two characters on the album come to mind – the man in the pub who laughs with his friends but is really hiding “behind petrified eyes” and the homecoming hero who can’t forget the dying words of the gunner crackling over the intercom. Presumably they are demoted soldiers – Ed]? Yeah. They’re both the same character. They’re both actually the teacher from ‘The Wall’. We learn a bit more of his past history – “When you’re to land on your feet/What do you do to make ends meet?/Teach.” So many of the teachers at the Cambridgeshire School for Boys, the school I went to, had gone into teaching after the war. They couldn’t think of anything else to do.”Roger Waters (746)

Two Suns In The Sunset

“[The last track, ‘Two Suns In The Sunset’, ends with a very simple conclusion – “We were all equal in the end.” It gives a sense of the album having been a journey and finally reaching journey’s end. Was this what you intended – Ed]? With that final song, yeah. There was something strange about it. Obviously, it describes a nuclear war – the remnants of all that paranoia about nuclear war from the Sixties – and it’s that idea that it may be at the end of life, one may have that kind of realisation that you could have when you’re alive and living, and you go, “Hold on a minute, maybe this is what I should do. We’ve gotta try and think every day. Every single day. I’m not talking about being heavy. I’m talking about living your life. Living it. Don’t be scared to live it. Don’t be scared to take risks. Particularly, don’t be scared to take the risk of touching people, or to be vulnerable.”Roger Waters (746)

When The Tigers Broke Free

“[‘When The Tigers Broke Free’ is about your father’s death in the Second World War. Do you feel that it has finally found its rightful home on ‘The Final Cut’ – Ed]? I think it fits very well. James Guthrie sent me a compilation of the record when he’d remastered it, and I was extremely confused for a while because ‘Tigers’ kept coming up again and again. I said, “James, what the fuck are you doing?” He said, “No, no, no, dear boy, I’ve put it in lots of different places. You have to choose which place you think it works best.” It’s great that it’s found a little home on an album somewhere.”Roger Waters (746)

The Final Cut

“[‘The Final Cut’ is dedicated to “Eric Fletcher Waters 1913 to 1944” – your father. You must have been a tiny baby when he died -Ed]. I was born in September ’43. I was five months old.”Roger Waters (746)

The Fletcher Memorial Home

“[Is the track title ‘The Fletcher Memorial Home’ also a reference to him – Ed]? That’s his middle name.”Roger Waters (746)